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PEST ED 2013 - UPDATE

I am pleased to announce that the Structural Pest Control Board has reviewed the hours applied for Pest Ed 2013. The acceptance is as follows:

Morning Session: 2 hours Rules and Regs & 1 hour IPM

Branch 2 Afternoon: 3 hour Branch 2 Technical

Rules and Regs Afternoon: 3 hours Rules and Regs

Branch 1 & 3 Afternoon: 1.5 hours Technical Branch 1 & 3

DPR has also sent back their approval for a total of 4.5 hours for agricultural licensees:

Laws and Regulations: 2 hours

Other: 2.5 hours

We will have an exciting cast of speakers along with vendor booths and a buffet-style lunch. You can check the upcoming events section of our website to find a link to the agenda and a registration form, or click here. Just fill out the form, pick the afternoon class and location you want, and mail it back to us. Remember the cut off for early registration is December 19^th. Hope to see you there.

Recently, it has been brought to my attention by a few different companies that they have received requests to fill out the NPMA-33 form in regards to FHA-HUD and VA loans. NPMA-33 is a generic form that many states that do not have such a structured Branch 3 inspection report use. The biggest issue is that the NPMA-33 form is a Wood Destroying Insect inspection report that does not address fungus like a WDO report does.

Back in 2005 this was an issue that the Structural Pest Control Board addressed and wrote a letter informing licensees that the NPMA-33 form is not acceptable in California. California's WDO inspection report is more than sufficient for FHA-HUD and VA loans. If any operators run into this problem, please contact the Structural Pest Control Board's WDO department or feel free to contact me at (916) 372-4363 for a copy of the letter.

The Federal Trade Commission filed charges against two different companies marketing natural bed bug products claiming these two companies were using deceptive advertising they have allegedly failed to support. The first, RMB Group, LLC, advertised that their Rest Easy product line, containing a liquid solution of cinnamon, lemongrass, peppermint and clove oils, kills and repels bed bugs, and that a consumer can create a barrier against them by spraying the product around a bed. The FTC alleges that the defendants do not have competent and reliable scientific evidence to support such claims. The product was sold to Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens and Big Lots for consumer sales.

The FTC charges that the second company, Ceadarcide Industries, made unsupported claims that their natural product line, Best Yet!, is effective at stopping and preventing bed bug infestations and that scientific studies prove it is more effective than synthetic pesticides. The FTC also charges the defendant with falsely claiming that the Environmental Protection Agency has warned consumers to avoid synthetic pesticides for treating bed bug infestations, and that Best Yet! is scientifically proven to stop and prevent head lice infestations, that it kills head lice eggs, dissolving the glue that binds eggs to hair, and can kill head lice and eggs in a single treatment. They also allegedly made false claims that it was invented for the U.S. Army at the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and that the USDA has acknowledged the product as the number one choice of bio-based pesticides.

RMB Group has agreed to settle the charges made against their "Rest Easy" bed bug products. The FTC filed both complaints and the proposed settlement order for the RMB Group in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California on September 5, 2012. The proposed settlement order is subject to court approval.

Under PAPCO Trustees, Lawrence Schork was elected at the 2012 Annual meeting to replace Mark Kingman, who retired from this position. Our apologies for this omission.

Pest Control Operators of California
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